The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful
by summer in the wind
Summary: While spring breaking in the tiny town of Seaside, Oregon, Leah meets Paul, a commercial fisherman who will forever alter her life.
1. Prologue

A/N: All Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

The plot, however, is all mine : )

**The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful**

**Prologue**

My mother was a firm believer that everything that happened, happened for a reason. I think she only believed this because she once read a Marilyn Monroe interview where Marilyn was quoted to have said, "I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." I remember my mom tearing that article from the magazine then trimming it so it was nice and pretty then she proceeded to tape it to the center of the refrigerator.

It never made sense to me. I never understood how a person could change so easily and let go of the ones they loved, and I never understood how someone could believe a lie, and I sure as hell never believed that good things fell apart and if they did, it wasn't so better things could come together.

Until it happened to me.

I went to Seaside that fateful spring break instead of going camping with my family and that's why I was exactly where I was right now, back in the place where it all started, staring into the chocolate brown eyes of the one person I'd hurt the most in my entire life.

I never thought I'd see him again and I sure didn't expect him to still be here in Seaside after all these years, yet there he stood, staring at me like a man seeing the sun for the first time.

I turned away, turning my back on him again, choosing to look down at my two whining children. I glanced down at their pink sun tinged skin and sleepy expressions. _Focus_, I ordered myself, _focus on the kids, focus on the present, not the past. _This _is your life now, not him._

I couldn't stop the tears that pricked my eyes, stinging them, obscuring my vision. Images of the past; shimmering memories of our time together, all leading up to the rainy Sunday morning I left without so much as a goodbye.

Even now, ten years later, it never failed to surprise me how different my life had been then, for those two short weeks, I was someone else, someone I didn't recognize anymore, someone I wasn't and would never be again. I was a girl, free from responsibility, free from a marriage to a man that most days I couldn't say I liked, let alone loved.

I risked a glance over my shoulder. He was still staring at me, silent tears begging me to come back to him, to come back to the life we could have had here in this tiny seaside town on the coast of somewhere beautiful.

"I'm sorry," I mouthed at him and turned away again feeling my heart break, tiny slivers shattering in my chest, spiraling down into the depths of the darkest part of my soul.

I took a deep breath and looked down at my children and, with a voice full of false cheer, said, "Who wants an ice cream cone?"

Maggie and Grace looked up, both nodding eagerly. "I want a chocolate one," Maggie said, her tears instantly drying. "And I want a banilla one," replied Grace.

"Come on then," I said taking their hands. "Ice cream it is."

As much as I wanted to, I didn't look back. With the girls' hands enveloped in mine, and my husband by my side, I walked away from the greatest love I'd even known.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: All Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

The plot, however, is all mine : )

Just want to say a real quick thank you to my friend and fellow ff writer twilightsgrace23 for her help on this chapter...the music you sent me was fabulous!

**The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful**

**Chapter One**

**Leah**

"Leah," Sue said from her post just inside the doorway. "Are you sure you don't want to go camping with us?"

I tucked a strand of hair that had slipped out of my ponytail behind my ear and absentmindedly wiped my brown. It might be April in Tacoma, but it was stuffy in my attic bedroom. "Yeah Mom, I'm sure."

Sue frowned, her forehead creasing in concern. "I'm worried. It's an awfully long drive to Seaside, especially by yourself."

"Mom," I said as patiently as I could. "It's not that far, and besides, I haven't seen Emily in almost a year. School will be ending soon and when I move to New York I really won't get to see her so I have to go now while I still can."

Again, she frowned when I mentioned New York. I was going whether she liked it or not. I spent the last three and a half years attending Washington State because that was what she and my father wanted and now I was ready to get the hell out of dodge. Jake, my long time boyfriend, wasn't too pleased with my decision either but as far as I was concerned it was my life – he was just along for the ride. Speaking of Jake, I heard his voice downstairs. My stomach clenched. I told him not to come over today – I had already said my goodbye to him and I just knew he was going to try to convince me not to go.

Sighing, I snapped my suitcase shut and dragged it behind me, out the door and down the narrow steps. Sue followed behind me, sighing every few seconds to herself. I ignored her and headed for the living room, the cooler air of the first floor a welcome relief after the stale air in my room.

In the living room, Jake stood and crossed the room in two easy strides, his exceptionally long legs making easy work of closing the gap between us. He wrapped his arms around me and asked if I was leaving soon. I nodded, brushing my lips against his cheek, he tensed under my affections, I stiffened in response, pulling away.

The last few weeks had been strained and I secretly wondered how much longer our relationship would last before it crumbled under the pressure. He put on a happy face for me but he was not happy I decided to spend my spring break in Seaside with Emily and not with him. Secretly I was glad to have a break from him. A lot of changes were coming my way; my life, as well as the people in it, needed to be evaluated, Jake just so happened to be one of those people. Wed been together for so long I honestly can't remember when we started dating and out relationship had long since grown, well, stale. I loved him, yes, but I was so sure I was _in love_ with him. Jake looked at me in that all knowing way and said, "Sure I can't convince you to come to Colorado with me? I hear white water rafting is pretty exhilarating."

_I'd rather be mauled by rabid bears_, I thought to myself, aloud I said, "Nope, everything is already planned and Emily's expecting me."

"Hey I at least had to give it a try," he chuckled good-naturedly.

"I bet," I replied. "Walk me out?"

He nodded and grabbed my bag. As we walked toward my car he said, "Everything's okay between us right?"

I felt my breath catching my throat as panic pressed her icy against against my heart. "Yeah," I lied smoothly. "We're fine. I just miss my best friend."

He eyed me as if he suspected I was lying so I smiled brightly and opened the trunk, taking my suitcase from him and tossing it inside. "You be careful," I said as I slammed the trunk. "Don't get mauled by a bear of anything."

"You be careful too. I'll see you when you get home."

-000-

Emily's aunt's house -a stately, recently remodeled 19th Century Victorian- sat on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Behind it sat a very tall, very thin lighthouse, white as the pure driven snow.

I sat in the car staring at the estate feeling as if I'd been transported back in time. Either that or I was dreaming and I'd just fallen out of twenty first century America and woken up right in the thick of Wuthering Heights. As I sat there, I found myself waiting for Heathcliff and Catherine to emerge from the lighthouse. Instead, however, it was Emily and her aunt, Claire, who emerged. I got out of the car as she came down the front steps.

"Oh my god," I cried as I rushed toward my best friend. "I've missed you so much."

"Tell me about it. God it's been too long. How are you? How's your family and Jake and Kim and Rachel and Rebecca?"

Behind us, Claire chuckled softly and said, "Calm down Em. The girl just go here, come on honey let's head inside."

I laughed and said, "Everybody's fine. How are you?"

Emily and I followed Claire up the front steps and into the house. "I'm good, just taking it one day at a time. How about you? You must be excited that graduation is coming and then you're off to New York. I wish I could go with you."

I frowned. "Me too. But you know you can always come for a visit."

Emily nodded and said, "Yeah I could. Maybe after the summers over and all the tourists go back to wherever they came from."

I nodded, understanding her plight. Right after the start of our junior year Emily's uncle passed away and Claire was left alone to run the bed and breakfast. When Emily had come home at Christmas and seen how much her aunt was struggling, she basically dropped out of school and rushed back to Seaside to help her. Claire and Emily were very close as Emily's own parents passed away when she was in fifth grade after they lost control of their car on an icy bridge one winter's night.

"Anyway, enough of that. We're going to have so much fun," she said as we entered the foyer. "I'm going to take you out for dinner tonight and we'll go to the aquarium and hang out on the beach, maybe even visit the pier if you want. You're going to love it so much you'll serious reconsider that whole moving to New York idea... and oh my god you have to meet my boyfriend Sam. He is so hot!"

I smiled, thinking to myself how much it felt like we'd never missed a beat, like we hadn't spent the last year catching up through random text messages and one lined emails. "So your boyfriend's hot?"

"Duh," she laughed "But he's so sweet too."

"I can't wait to meet him," I told her.

"You will meet him, I mean tonight. He's meeting us at a local bar after he gets off work."

"What's he do?"

"He's a commercial fisherman." The way she said it implied that she had no idea what a commercial fisherman was.

"That's cool, I guess. I mean if you're into smelly dudes.

Emily gasped at me, playfully smacking me on the arm. "Whatever you're just jealous. How _is_ Jake by the way?"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Fine."

"Uh oh," Emily retorted. "Trouble in paradise?"

I nodded. "Its not so much trouble as it's is boredom. I mean Jake's great, but there's no spark. We're like really great friends who have mediocre sex." I frowned at the floor."Sorry, I'll quit bitching."

Emily placed her hand on my forearm. "Its fine sweetie. That's what friends are for. Come on I'll show you to your room.

I followed Emily up two flights of stairs and down a long narrow hallway on the third floor. "Claire has guests checking tomorrow morning so the second floor is off limits. This is my room-" she pointed to a door with a Coldplay poster tacked to it. "Claire's room." A door with vintage tea roses painted on it. "Bathroom." A plain white door at the end of the hall. "And your room." A door next to hers with more tea roses painted on it.

"Mike should've brought your stuff in. He should be up with it in a minute. I'll let you get settled and cleaned up then we'll head into town."

I thanked her and entered my room, quietly shutting the door behind me. It was so good to be here, away from the normal everyday madness that was my life. I crossed the room and dropped my purse on the neatly made bed. It jingled as the loose coins bounced around inside. I thought about sitting down on the edge of the bed but decided against it, thinking I might fall asleep if left alone in the quiet house. I turned, looking around the small room, my eyes drifting over the soft pink walls, off white furniture. It was like being inside of a life size dollhouse. The thought made me smile as I pictured a giant's little girl pushing the furniture around with her overly large extremities.

At the door, there was a soft knock. I crossed the room quickly, wrenching open the door. A short boy with unruly sandy blonde hair stood on the other side holding my suitcase. "Claire asked me to bring this up for you," he said handing it to me then quickly turned and headed down the hall, his shoulders hunched, head down.

"Thank you," I called after him then wheeled the case into my room and shut the door. I didn't bother unpacking my suitcase; I just set it in the corner and left it there. I went to the bathroom, splashed some water on my face, dabbed some lip-gloss on my lips and headed down to the kitchen where the distinct sound of giggling was coming from.

In the kitchen, Claire was standing at the stove stirring something in a large brass pot, the setting sun catching fire in her hair. Emily was seated at the island rolling a wooden pepper grinder between her palms. "Hey chickadee," she chimed as I pushed open the door. "Did Mike bring you your suitcase?"

I nodded as I sat down on the hard wooden stool beside her. "Yup, thanks. What smells so good?" I asked breathing in the scent of beef and onion.

"That would be my famous beef stew," Claire said smiling at me from over her shoulder.

"It smells delicious."

"That's because it _is_," Claire said. She stirred the pot, the wooden spoon clanging against the sides of the pot.

Beside me, Emily rolled her eyes and said, "You ready to go?"

I nodded, sliding off the stool. Claire set the spoon on the stovetop and turned, wiping her hands on her apron. "You girls are leaving?" she asked, wide-eyed.

Emily nodded. "We're meeting Sam, Paul, and Jared at Dundee's for a beer and a burger."

"Oh," was all Claire said.

"Don't worry, we won't stay out late," Emily promised. When Claire looked at me, I nodded in agreement, echoing Emily's promise. "Yeah, we won't stay out late."

Finally, Claire nodded, conceding defeat. "Okay, well you girls have fun, and don't drink and drive. Call me if you need a ride."

"We will," Emily called as she darted out of the kitchen. I chased after her, out of the kitchen and down the front hall. She burst through the front door with me close on her heels; the screen door slapped the frame with a loud, _thwack_, in the otherwise still spring night. Emily ran toward her car, a vintage Volkswagen bug convertible, red in color. "Come on," she called. "Spring break waits for no one."

I laughed and ran to catch up with her, stopping at the side of the car with my hand on the handle. "Who are Paul and Jared?" I asked.

"Sam's friends, they're fishermen too," she said as she got into the car. "They follow him everywhere; it would be creepy if they weren't so cute."

I slid into the passenger seat; Emily started the car letting it roll backwards down the driveway before sliding it into gear. We drove through the more touristy part of Seaside; I glanced out the window, watching as families with small children strolled up and down the streets, teenagers lingering in the doorways of souvenir shops and delis.

Emily drove toward the north end of town, further away from the pier and the beach, away from the touristy part of town, and into the local's only area. She pulled into the parking lot of a bar that looked like it was yanked right off the set of that vampire show on HBO. Green neon above the door announced that the bar was called Dundee's. Emily shut off the car and the Eagles were singing for us to take it easy.

"What is this place?" I asked, looking around at the crowded parking lot.

"Dundee's," Emily replied.

"Thank you captain obvious. What I meant was-"

"I know what you meant," Emily laughed. "Its just a bar, a place where you can get a beer and a burger for a few bucks, shoot some pool and listen to the same five songs on the juke box. Just a little local place we all love."

I followed her in as the Eagles ended and Poison began. Emily sang along as she made her way to the bar where three men were sitting with their backs to us. She squeezed against the man in the middle and wrapped her arms around his waist. He set his sweating bottle of beer down and smiled at her, his lips moving, the sound unheard over the roar of the jukebox. Emily turned and pointed at me, waving me over. I wandered over to where she stood, hanging back somewhat shyly.

"This is my friend Leah – from Seattle," she told the men at the bar.

The one I assumed was Sam, smiled, offering me his hand. "I've heard a lot about you," he said.

I took it giving it a shake. "All I heard about you was that you were cute. And nice."

Sam chuckled, turning back to Emily. "Cute and nice? Really babe?" he joked.

Emily shrugged. "Eh, what can I say? You are cute and nice." Turning to me she said, "This is Sam, and that's Jared, and Paul."

"Hi," I said with a brief wave.

Jared gave me a brief nod before turning back to his burger, but Paul – he was a different story, our eyes met and he held my gaze. The attraction was instantaneous; it caught me by surprise, holding me in place. It was one of those clichéd movie moments, you know the kind where you see a girl, i.e. me, who meets a guy, i.e. Paul, the music and the crowd fades away then it's just you and him staring at one another. I wanted to look away, wanted to be anywhere but where I was. I think he felt that, Paul blinked; tearing his eyes away from mine and the moment was gone. I swallowed hard and stared down at my feet, willing the burn in my cheeks to fade. Emily noticed I was still hanging back; she glanced at me over her shoulder.

"You okay?" she mouthed.

I nodded and made my way closer to the bar. Paul got up and walked with Jared toward the pool tables. I sat down beside Emily, grabbing a handful of pretzels out of a bowl to my left. I popped one in my mouth and discreetly looked toward the pool tables. Paul was standing against the wall, leaning on a pool cue, a pensive look on his angular face.

"He's cute, huh?" Emily asked following my gaze.

"What? Who?" I asked feeling the heat flood my face again.

"Paul. He's staring at you."

"Oh? I hadn't noticed." I hoped she believed me.

"Yeah, look."

I glanced at the pool tables, meeting his eyes again. Shivering I tore my eyes away from Paul and gazed down at the menu that magically appeared in front of me. It wasn't magic that made it appear; most likely, it was set down by the surly bartender drying shot glasses at the end of the bar. I didn't bother looking at it, a burger and a beer would be good enough. I waved to the bartender who ambled toward me.

"A burger, fries, and a Bud Lite please," I said sliding the menu back toward him.

"Same for me, Doc," Emily called. She turned back to Sam leaving me to my own thoughts. I glanced at Paul again who was still staring at me. Somewhat irritated, I turned on the stool and blatantly stared back. He didn't look away, didn't act embarrassed that I caught him eyeballing me. I held his gaze defiantly as I hummed along to Bruce Springsteen on the jukebox.

_What is his problem? _I wondered_. Is he just a weirdo? Oh god, do I have something on my face? _

I jumped off the stool and looked around for the ladies room, spotting it – conveniently – in the same corner as where Paul and his friend were playing what had to be the longest game of pool known to man.

I rushed past him, staring at the floor. Once ensconced in the safety of the bathroom I peered into the mirror. My face was clear of any offending imperfections, my hair was sticking up, – there was nothing wrong with my appearance.

I shrugged at my reflection and headed for the door. Let him stare, I decided. Maybe I looked like someone he once knew.

-000-

Later that night on our way home, I brought up Paul's odd behavior to Emily. "He was staring at you, like staring, staring?"

"Mhmm," I told her. "It was weird. I mean, he was super cute, but super weird."

"That is weird. I mean, he's always been the "quiet" one and as far as I know, he's never had a girlfriend. Maybe he thought you were hot and was just too nervous to talk to you."

"Yeah maybe," I agreed.

"Did you have fun tonight?" she asked, slowing the speeding car down to turn onto the road leading to the bluff.

"Yeah," I said. It was a lie. Most of the night was spent watching Emily and Sam make out; the rest of the night was me listening to Emily talk to and or about Sam. Honestly, it was kind of annoying but there was no way I was going to tell her that. "Sam seems really nice," I said instead.

"I'm glad you like him. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

I shrugged, staring as the light from the lighthouse sliced through the otherwise pitch-black night. I wondered how far the light reached, I wondered if there was a sailor out there right now watching the light pierce the darkness; I wondered if he was wondering about the lighthouse keeper – what their story was and why they were the keeper of the light. I doubted it, but the hopeless romantic in me couldn't help but find the tragic beauty of the situation. "Let's just play it by ear," I said. "We can figure all that out in the morning. Right now I'm tired and want nothing more than to go to bed."


End file.
